Americans United - Chattanoogahttps://au.org/tags/chattanooga
enSorry, Soddy-Daisy!: Public Schools Should Not Promote One Faith Over Othershttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/sorry-soddy-daisy-public-schools-should-not-promote-one-faith-over-others
<a href="/about/people/bathija">Sandhya Bathija</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>A Tennessee public school has done the right thing and agreed to stop broadcasting Christian prayers over the loudspeaker at football games and graduation ceremonies.</p>
<p>After students complained to the Freedom From Religion Foundation, the group sent a letter to school officials asking them to discontinue the unconstitutional practice.</p>
<p>Hamilton County Schools Superintendent issued an order to halt the prayers, and yesterday Soddy-Daisy High School Principal John Maynard promised that he would.</p>
<p>"Now that we have citizens in our community protesting,” Maynard told the <a href="http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/news/local/102010-chattanooga-school-urged-to-stop-game-prayers">Associated Press</a>, “we need to notify our principals to follow the law based on numerous court cases.”</p>
<p>Of course, for many in the Chattanooga-area community, this is an unwelcome decision – even for a school board member who should know better.</p>
<p>Hamilton County Board of Education member Rhonda Thurman, who represents Soddy-Daisy, said the prayers were part of the school’s tradition, and that anyone who didn’t want to hear them could “put their fingers in their ears.”</p>
<p>She <a href="http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/oct/20/national-group-demands-end-prayers-soddy-daisy-hig/?local">told</a> the AP , “Everybody is offended by something. I’m offended by a lot of those little girls running around with their thong panties showing, but I can’t make that go away.”</p>
<p>Parent Jim Rogers complained that his child’s free speech rights are being violated.</p>
<p>“People who find Christianity contrary to their beliefs shouldn’t be offended that [Christians] have the freedom to express their religious beliefs,” he said.</p>
<p>It’s a shame that these people just don’t get it.</p>
<p>Claiming that students can just “put their fingers in their ears” doesn’t change the fact that the school is unfairly and unconstitutionally favoring one particular religion. Students of all faiths and none should feel welcome at school. They should not feel like outcasts because school officials forget that it’s their duty is to remain neutral on the topic of religion. Parents should determine what faith their children practice, not school officials.</p>
<p>Students have the right to voluntarily practice their faith in public schools so long as it does not disrupt others or interrupt class time. But school officials cannot give preferential treatment to one religious belief by allowing only Christian prayers to be broadcast over the loudspeakers.</p>
<p>Fortunately, the Constitution has not been lost on everyone in Hamilton County, Tenn.</p>
<p>Michael Dzik, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, said it’s the school’s responsibility to make all students feel welcome.</p>
<p>“I think that the [school] administration needs to be very sensitive to these types of things,” he said. “This is not a Jewish issue, this is not a Christian issue. It’s a people issue, and having a basic respect for other people and their beliefs.”</p>
<p>If only everyone could see it that way.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/religion-public-schools-and-universities">Religion in Public Schools and Universities</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/chattanooga">Chattanooga</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/freedom-religion-foundation">Freedom From Religion Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/prayer-public-schools">prayer in public schools</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-public-schools-and-universities">Religion in Public Schools and Universities</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tennessee">Tennessee</a></span></div></div>Thu, 21 Oct 2010 17:27:40 +0000Sandhya Bathija2475 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/sorry-soddy-daisy-public-schools-should-not-promote-one-faith-over-others#commentsHolier Than Thou: Tennessee Candidates Tout Their Religiosityhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/holier-than-thou-tennessee-candidates-tout-their-religiosity
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Does a Presbyterian make sure potholes are filled and balance the budget any differently than a Unitarian?</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>As I cruised some news headlines online this morning, I came across an interesting tidbit: Bronislaw Komorowski, the newly elected president of Poland,<a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2001656,00.html?xid=rss-topstories"> campaigned in part</a> on a promise to increase the separation of church and state.</p>
<p>Poland can certainly use some separation. Back in the early 1990s, I remember Americans United hosting an activist from that county who explained the intolerably close relationship between the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the government there. Komorowski, who has been serving as interim president, said he sees putting some distance between religion and government as one way to modernize Poland.</p>
<p>It would be nice if we had candidates in this country who openly campaigned on a vow to strengthen church-state separation. Instead, too often we get hopefuls eager to talk about how they plan to drag their personal religious views into every political decision they make.</p>
<p>Today’s Chattanooga <em>Times Free Press</em>, for example, <a href="http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jul/06/candidates-debate-role-of-religion-in-politics/?local">contains a story</a> about a race for a seat on the Hamilton County Commission. It’s a crowded field, and two of the candidates attend the same Baptist church – and have taken to accusing one another of being insufficiently religious.</p>
<p>One candidate, Tim Boyd, said he has never seen opponent Kenny Smith “darken the door” at East Ridge Baptist Church.</p>
<p>Smith responded with a pithy, “I’m a Christian and my decisions are based on that.”</p>
<p>Two other candidates, Jim Winters and Terry Turner, felt compelled to assure the newspaper that they both accept the divinity of Jesus.</p>
<p>“As far as my candidacy goes...religion – it’s an important part of my life,” Winters said. Turner pointed out that he is a “follower of the way of Christ.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Pastor Ronnie Mitchell of East Ridge Baptist decided to add a dollop of anti-historical bilge to the discussion, informing the newspaper that the United States was founded by “conservative, fundamentalist Christians and radical Bible believers.”</p>
<p>One of those founders was Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson, a Deist, rejected the virgin birth and the divinity of Jesus and once edited the New Testament to remove all references to miracles.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/53/Letter_from_Thomas_Jefferson_to_John_Adams_1.html">remarkable letter </a>to John Adams, dated April 11, 1823, Jefferson observed, “And the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”</p>
<p>Some fundamentalist, radical Bible believer there!</p>
<p>Obviously, many Americans would disagree with Jefferson’s conclusion. That’s fine. Religious liberty, undergirded by the separation of church and state, gives us the freedom to hash out these views in private arenas.</p>
<p>They are less welcome in the government arena, and here is why: Private religious opinions are more or less irrelevant to getting the job done.</p>
<p>Consider Jefferson. Even though he held religious views that many would consider unorthodox, they in no way impaired his ability to serve his country. After all, Jefferson was governor of Virginia, ambassador to France, founder of the University of Virginia and president of the United States.</p>
<p>I really do believe a Deist like Jefferson, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Jew, a Muslim or an atheist could handle the tasks of the Hamilton County Commission – just as a Christian could. Think of it: Does a Presbyterian make sure potholes are filled and balance the budget any differently than a Unitarian?</p>
<p>Yet Jefferson, the man who helped birth our republic and whose genius is given plenty of lip service every 4th of July, probably couldn’t be elected to the Hamilton County Commission, in light of his religious opinions. It’s highly ironic.</p>
<p>I wonder if Bronislaw Komorowski has any interest in relocating to Tennessee?</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/churches-and-politics">Churches and Politics</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/bronislaw-komorowski">Bronislaw Komorowski</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/chattanooga">Chattanooga</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/election-08">Election &#039;08</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-adams">John Adams</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/kenny-smith">Kenny Smith</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/poland">Poland</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/religion-and-politics">Religion and politics</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/ronnie-mitchell">Ronnie Mitchell</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tennessee">Tennessee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/thomas-jefferson">thomas jefferson</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/tim-boyd">Tim Boyd</a></span></div></div>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:04:21 +0000Rob Boston2098 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/holier-than-thou-tennessee-candidates-tout-their-religiosity#comments